Sudden Death Most Common CV Death in T2DM/ASCVD

27 percent of CV deaths in diabetes patients with atherosclerotic CVD are categorized as sudden death

October 24, 2017 (Last Updated)

MONDAY, Oct. 23, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Among patients with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), sudden death is the most common category of cardiovascular (CV) mortality, according to a study published online Oct. 6 in Diabetes Care.

Abhinav Sharma, M.D., from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues used data from 14,671 patients in the Trial Evaluating Cardiovascular Outcomes with Sitagliptin (TECOS) study to evaluate the specific causes of death and their associated risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes and ASCVD.

The researchers identified 1,084 deaths and characterized 530 of them as CV (1.2/100 patient-years [PY]; 49 percent of deaths), 338 as non-CV (0.77/100 PY; 31 percent of deaths), and 216 as unknown (0.49/100 PY; 20 percent of deaths). Sudden death was the most common CV death (27 percent of CV deaths) followed by acute myocardial infarction/stroke ( 21 percent of CV deaths) and heart failure (12 percent of CV deaths). For non-CV death, malignancy was the most common (46 percent of non-CV deaths).

"Heart failure prevention may represent an avenue to reduce the risk of specific CV death subcategories," write the authors.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, including Merck & Co., which funded the study.